


Promise Me Love

by samanthastral



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Redemption, Reporter Takeda, Small acts of violence but nothing that you wouldn't see in a cartoon, Spider-Man-themed, Superhero Bokuto, Supervillain Tendou, Tendou's so unapologetically evil in this, death mention, mild violence, photographer akaashi, superhero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-28 08:27:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6322222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samanthastral/pseuds/samanthastral
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keiji is saved by the little-known and infamous Owl-Man that's been causing gossip amongst the citizens of Tokyo. When he makes a deal to help the new superhero receive a better reputation, Keiji begins to regret making his new crush a bigger deal when a villain named Dark Swan announces that Owl-Man is now his enemy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Right___Meow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Right___Meow/gifts).



> Happy (belated) birthday, Alex! I'm so glad that you're my friend because you're always so sweet and nice to me. You're a great person, and I'm so fortunate to be able to talk to you, especially to someone so _talented_! (Still gushing over my birthday fic that you wrote for me, to be honest.)
> 
> I hope your birthday was a wonderful celebration because you certainly deserved a great birthday! 
> 
> Ah, but I'm sorry that this is late! I had to change some things around. I edited a lot of this while I stayed up all night two days in a row, so I hope that there's no plot holes??? If you catch any, please let me know! I'll definitely go back and figure out what I missed and correct it, lol. Doing superhero/villain aus is very thought-provoking, but I'm sure I missed _something_. I hope I did the genre justice! And I hope that you can spot the Spider-Man references that I added to this. Spider-Man was my inspiration for a lot of the elements in this.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy, Alex! :D 

“I’m sorry, Keiji, but I can’t give you any extra money right now.” 

Keiji stared back at his aunt and nodded in understanding. He knew that they were going through some financial troubles, especially after the death of his uncle. It was hard watching her work so tirelessly to support them. 

“It’s alright,” he assured her. “I, uh… I’ve been thinking about getting a job to help.” 

She stopped cleaning the kitchen table and looked at him. She left the cleaning spray on top of it and gripped the washrag in her hand. 

“Oh, Keiji, you don’t have to do that. I’ll think of something. I don’t want you to—” 

He grabbed her by the shoulders and smiled gently down at her. She was always reminded of how tall he’d gotten since entering high school whenever he’d look down at her. 

“Aunt Mai,” he interrupted her, firmly holding onto her shoulders, “I can help. Please let me.” 

Mai looked up at her nephew. She’d never wanted to think that he needed to take on such an adult responsibility. She wanted him to enjoy being a child while he still had the chance. But as she looked up into his sad eyes, she caved. He wouldn’t enjoy his youth fully if she didn’t let him do this. She knew him. She knew that he hated seeing others struggling. 

“Alright, Keiji…” she said. “But you must listen to me. I do not want you doing a sketchy job. I do not want you working too many hours a day. I do not want you to think that you have to support the both of us. The money that you earn will help, but I don’t want you to think that everything is up to you. Got it?” 

Keiji smiled warmly back at his aunt and nodded. 

She smiled in return. 

“Good. I will let you do this, but find a job within reason. For my sake. Please?” 

“I promise.” 

* * *

The building was intimidatingly tall as Keiji’s eyes drifted up from the bottom to the top of the skyscraper. He looked up at all of the windows as they glistened against the beating sun and at how the top of the building seemed to live far up into the clouds. He craned his neck too far and started rubbing it when it began to ache. 

Taking in a deep breath, he walked into the building. He tapped his fingers together in front of his stomach and slowly made his way to the front desk. 

A woman with curly black hair and bright red lipstick delicately painted across her thin lips smacked her gum and drifted her gaze towards him. 

“May I help you?” she asked him in a bored tone. 

“I just came to see if your job offer for a photographer was still available,” he told her. His nerves were all over the place, but Keiji had a way of keeping them at bay. He usually looked rather collected, but his mind screamed, and he always had a habit of playing with his fingers to help. 

She clicked away at her computer and hummed words to herself, nodded along to the things that she was saying with her mouth closed. She chewed her gum—the smell of strawberry wafted towards Keiji’s nose—and grinned with the fakest grin that Keiji had ever seen on a person before. 

“Why, yes. We do. You can go speak to Mr. Joshuya about the position.” She picked up something from her desk and handed Keiji a pass. “You’ll need this. His office is right down the hall.” 

“Thank you,” Keiji said, dipping his head and then heading to Mr. Joshuya’s office. 

He stopped right in front of the door to read the words painted across the window. 

**JIN JIROU JOSHUYA, JR.**

_He must be part foreign,_ Keiji assumed by the strange additions to his name that weren’t traditional to the majority of Japan. 

Keiji took another deep breath and knocked on the door. 

“Come in,” he heard a gruff voice say. 

Slowly and nervously, Keiji took a hold of the doorknob and opened the door. He shut the door behind him and stood by it as he introduced himself. “Hello, sir. I’m Akaashi Keiji, and I came for the photographer job.” 

“Yes, yes. We’ve been looking for a skilled photographer,” he said. “Do you have any prior experience?” 

“Not particularly,” Keiji admitted. He grabbed out a portfolio from his shoulder bag and handed it to Mr. Joshuya as he came up to his desk. “But I do have a portfolio of some of the photographs that I’d taken for my group at my high school and some shots that I did to gain some skills.” 

The editor-in-chief took the portfolio and flipped through it diligently. He rubbed his chin and smiled to himself as he looked back up at Keiji. 

“You’ve got a keen eye for photographs, I’ll give you that,” he told him. “These aren’t bad at all.” 

Keiji’s eyes widened in surprised. “Really?” 

“I think I can give you a small photographing job here. It won’t be full-time because you’re still a highschooler, but I think I could pull some strings. You can accompany…”—he rummaged through some pages atop his desk and picked up a sheet of paper swiftly, handing it to Keiji—“Takeda Ittetsu! He’s an amateur reporter, so his stories should be very mild. You can take some photos to go along with his stories.” 

“That’s perfect, sir. Thank you.” 

“You can start today. Just meet up with Takeda-san and see where you two will be going. You can use one of our cameras from the supply closet.” 

Keiji bowed in gratitude and placed his portfolio back into his bag as Mr. Joshuya handed it back to him. He looked down at Takeda Ittetsu’s file but looked up sharply when Mr. Joshuya called out his name. 

“But remember, kid; even on simple stories, there’s danger. Be careful out there. Got it?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

* * *

“Takeda-san, you seem nervous,” Keiji commented to his superior. 

Ittetsu straightened out his jacket and positioned his glasses back onto his nose. He laughed nervously and nodded. “Just a bit anxious because of the reports of some strange guy roaming about.” 

“Strange guy?” 

Ittetsu jumped and waved his hands. “Nothing to be alarmed about though!” He suddenly rubbed his temples. He didn’t want to scare Keiji because he was only a high school student, but here he was acting all nervous and alarmed instead. It was sure to make Keiji even worse off than he was. 

Keiji played around with the settings on his camera and lifted his brow up at Ittetsu. “What guy, Takeda-san?” 

“Just… some guy in an owl costume. He’s been flying around and scaring the bejeezus out of everyone. Some people think that he’s some kind of new superhero, but others are kind of mistrusting of his intentions since he tends to scare others rather than help them.” 

Keiji snapped a photo of Ittetsu with his camera by accident as his hand slipped across the button. The abrupt flash temporarily blurred the older man’s vision. 

“Gah!” 

“Sorry!” Keiji apologized. 

Ittetsu rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. “It’s alright. It was just an accident.” 

“So, there’s this strange owl guy going around and disrupting people?” 

“It seems so. I’m just kind of nervous to run into him because, believe it or not, I’m very faint-hearted.” 

Keiji believed him, but he only grinned gently and nodded. He waited until Ittetsu regained his vision to follow him to the bakery at the end of the street. They entered, and a bell was sounded as they did. Ittetsu and Keiji were greeted by an elderly woman. 

Ittetsu pulled out his notepad and began to talk with the woman about her winning the recent competition for her beautiful and delicious homemade pie that received the most votes towards a winner in over forty years. 

As Ittetsu discussed her momentous win, Keiji took to taking pictures of her shop and of her pies that were out on display. He was asked to take a picture of the winner, and she showed them to the back and explained to them how she made her pies. 

The story was cute and a nice change of pace for Keiji. Lately, he hadn’t liked reading bad news in the newspaper since his Uncle Benjurou had been killed by a bugler a few months ago. The guy had never been caught, and Keiji could still feel the weight of that on his heart. 

“Thank you for your time, ma’am,” Ittetsu said once he’d gotten all the information that he needed. 

“Please take a free pie!” she insisted, handing them a box with one of her blueberry pies placed inside of it. 

Ittetsu smiled sheepishly at her. “Oh… Thank you!” 

She beamed and nodded. “No, thank _you_!” 

Keiji smiled and waved to her as they left the bakery. He clicked through the pictures on his digital screen of his big bulky camera that he’d borrowed from the supplies closet. He smiled to himself at the photos, feeling rather accomplished. 

“You did a good job,” Ittetsu told him. 

Keiji looked up from his camera. “Thank you…” 

Ittetsu smiled and held the pie box up in his arms. “You’re a gifted photographer,” he continued. 

Keiji lowered his head in embarrassment. He glanced up quickly and turned towards the alleyway when something caught his eye. He stopped and narrowed his gaze into the dark alley. 

“What is it?” Ittetsu asked as he stopped and looked back at Keiji. 

“I thought I saw something…” Keiji said. He looked down at his camera. “Do you mind if I go look?” 

The hairs on the back of Ittetsu’s neck stood up, and his eyes widened in surprise. “In the alley?! I can’t allow you do to that, Keiji-kun. It’s not safe.” 

“The car’s right there,” Keiji reminded him, gesturing towards Ittetsu’s vehicle only a few feet away. “I’m just going right down there.” 

“I don’t know…” 

“I promise I’ll be careful.” There was something pulling Keiji towards the alley. It was a strange force, and he wanted to see if there was something worth getting a picture of down there. 

“I don’t think so,” Ittetsu said anxiously. “We better get back to _The Daily Tokgle_. It’s getting kind of dark, and I don’t like the thought of this idea.” 

Understanding Ittetsu’s worries, Keiji abandoned the idea of venturing into the alleyway and followed Ittetsu to his car, but he looked up when he saw the flash of something fly across the tops of the buildings before him. 

He blinked and slowly slid into the car. 

* * *

There was an undeniable feeling of dread that scratched at the inside of Keiji’s stomach. He kept turning around to make sure that nobody was following him as he made his way back to his house from _The Daily Tokgle_ ’s building. 

He froze when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. He slowly turned around to see a man coming towards him. He looked like a bland fellow with unkempt hair and a scruffy beard. His footsteps were heavy against the sidewalk, and Keiji took to briskly walking, hoping that the man wasn’t after him. 

When the footsteps behind him picked up into a sprint, Keiji started running without even looking back. 

“Hey, kid!” the man behind him shouted. “I just wanna _talk_!” 

_No, no, no._ Keiji dashed through the sidewalk and ducked into the alleyway. He went and ran towards the dumpster. The guy ran past the alley, but Keiji noticed him back up and narrow his eyes toward him. 

With the hairs on his arms sticking up and the thought of survival embedded in his mind, Keiji climbed up on top of the dumpster and grabbed the ladder above it. The ladder shook with his weight, but he kept climbing as the guy below looked up at him and climbed up after him. 

“Leave me alone!” Keiji begged, edging along the fire escape and backing up into another ladder. 

The man met him up on the ledge and tried to soften his expression into an innocent one. 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he lied through his crooked teeth. 

Keiji didn’t care if he was telling the truth or not. This guy creeped him out. If he didn’t have the intention of hurting him, then he wouldn’t have followed him all the way up here. 

Quickly, Keiji turned around and started climbing up the other ladder until he made it to the roof of the building. He watched the ladder shake as the guy followed him up there. Keiji ran over to the roof’s entrance, but the door was locked when he shook the doorknob. He frantically looked back as the guy climbed up onto the roof, so Keiji hid behind the wall on the side of the entrance. 

He closed his eyes and held his breath as he heard the footsteps of the guy creeping towards him. He bit his lip and slowly opened his eyelids to find a pair of golden, shimmering eyes staring back at him. 

The strange person in front of him was wearing an owl mask and was wearing a shirt with an owl symbol on it. 

Keiji yelped just as the owl man covered his mouth. He put his finger up to his lips that were beneath a beak that was attached to his mask, and Keiji stared back at him in fear. 

“I’m going to save you,” he whispered. He held Keiji’s hand and pulled him along the roof. The guy called out after them when he spotted them running out from their hiding place, but the owl man grabbed Keiji and held his body close to his chest as wings sprouted out from his back. He flew them off of the roof, prompting Keiji to become too shocked to scream. He wrapped his arms around the man and tightly closed his eyes as his body shook from fright. 

The owl man landed them in a yard, and he patted Keiji’s shoulder to tell him that they’d landed and that he was safe. 

Keiji unsteadily pulled himself away from him and stepped back from him. 

“No, no,” he said gently. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not a bad guy.” 

“Y-you’re… You’re that… The… o-owl… man…” Keiji stammered. He held his hand to his chest and kept backing away from him just as the owl man came toward him slowly. 

“I’m not a bad guy,” he repeated. “I know that I’ve kind of scared lots of people recently, but I didn’t mean to! People are just jumpy.” 

Keiji looked back at him skeptically. He stopped walking backwards when his back was brought up against the brick wall of a house behind him. He touched the wall with his hands, keeping his eyes on the strange person in the peculiar owl attire in front of him. 

“It’s all just been a misunderstanding,” the owl man said. “I’ve been trying to help people, but most people are scared of me.” He rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Because you have giant wings that come out of your back and you come out of nowhere,” Keiji blurted out. 

He blinked back at Keiji and then smiled underneath his beak. 

“I need to work on that, I guess,” he said. 

Keiji nodded, lowering his eyelids and looking at him with slight annoyance. 

The owl man stood directly in front of Keiji and rubbed his chin. He blinked back at him and snapped his fingers. “Hey! I know you!” 

“What…?” Keiji became guarded and glanced around for someplace to run to. 

“I saw you walking by the alley by that bakery a few weeks ago.” 

“That was you?” _I_ knew _that I saw something…_

The owl man backed away from Keiji to give him some air to breathe and nodded. “Yeah. You were with some reporter guy. You had a camera, and he was praising you because of the pictures you’d taken.” 

Keiji relaxed against the wall and began to twiddle with his fingers. 

“Do you work for the newspaper?” he asked Keiji curiously. 

“Yes,” Keiji told him. “I’m a photographer there.” 

“You’re so young!” he exclaimed in surprise. 

“I only take pictures for one of the reporters there. It’s just a part-time job because I’m still in high school.” 

“Still,” he told him. “You must be _really_ good to work there.” He smiled and opened the back door to the house. “Take a picture of me! I want to see how good your pictures are.” 

Keiji looked at him strangely and looked up at the sky. It was dark, and his aunt would be expecting him home soon. He had no idea who this owl man was or why he was acting so friendly towards him. Besides, Keiji didn’t have a camera with him, and he told the owl man so. 

He waved his hand towards him and pulled him inside. “I have one!” 

As he led Keiji through the home, Keiji asked, “How can I trust you? Why are you acting so friendly towards somebody you don’t even know? How did you even become this?” 

“You ask a lot of questions,” the owl man said. 

Keiji blushed. “I’m sorry… I don’t usually—” 

He laughed loudly, and Keiji looked around to make sure that nobody was coming. But nobody came, and the house seemed to be empty of any life besides them. Keiji assumed that this was the owl man’s house and that he lived alone, but the owl man put those accusations to rest as he handed Keiji a digital camera from a kitchen drawer and said, “My grandparents won’t be home until later, so I can be as loud as I want to!” 

“You live with your grandparents?” Keiji asked. 

“Yeah. My dad died when I was a baby, and my mom passed away when I was four, so I’ve been living with my grandparents ever since.” 

“I’m sorry to hear about your parents,” Keiji said as he turned the camera on. “My parents passed away in a car accident when I was little, and my uncle died a few months ago, so I just live with my aunt now.” The words came out too easily, and Keiji mentally scolded himself for being so forward with his personal life. 

Silence suddenly took a grasp of the situation. Keiji looked up from the camera when he didn’t hear a response, thinking that maybe he’d said too much too quickly. 

The young man donned in the owl attire looked back at him sadly. 

“That’s really… awful,” he replied. 

Keiji stared back at him and quickly began fiddling with the camera. He adjusted the settings and pointed it at the owl man. The digital camera didn’t have the same feel as his usual camera from _The Daily Tokgle_ or the one he had at home, but it would do just fine. 

“It’s alright. Let’s just take the picture,” he hurriedly told him. 

The owl man was reluctant to move at first, but he sat on top of the kitchen counter and posed after a short moment. “Okay, take it now.” 

Keiji took the picture and barely had time to look at it before the owl man snatched it from his hands and peered down at it. 

“Oh, wow! I look awesome!” He turned back to Keiji and showed him the picture like he hadn’t just taken it himself. “Did you see this? This is so cool!” 

“It’s not that great,” Keiji told him. “The lighting isn’t very good in here.” 

“Don’t be so modest!” he said. “Here, take a picture of me with my mask off.” 

Keiji reached forward and held onto the owl man’s hands as he attempted to pull off his mask. He looked up at him with wide eyes and shook his head slowly. “Do you think that’s a good idea?” he asked him. “How can you trust me?” 

He blinked down at him. “You have an honest face,” he said. 

Keiji looked taken aback. 

“My reputation as a superhero hasn’t taken off yet,” he started to say. “Lots of people are labeling me as some kind of hoax or ruffian, but I really just want to help people. Maybe you can help me.” 

“Help you how?” Keiji asked. 

“You work for the newspaper. Maybe if you take some pictures and get that reporter to write some good stories about me, people will look at me differently. Maybe they won’t be afraid of me, and I can do better as a hero.” 

He posed with his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. 

Keiji didn’t want to buy this kind of nonsense, but this guy seemed genuine when he said that he wanted to help others. He’d saved Keiji, after all. 

Not many people knew what his true intentions were, but Keiji believed him when he said that he wanted to help others. 

He looked back at him and nodded. “Okay. I’ll try.” 

His golden eyes shone, and he grabbed Keiji’s arm. “Really?!” 

Keiji nodded again. 

“Then, I trust you,” he said. “All great heroes have someone that they trust that know their secret identity.” 

“Are you really sure that you want to reveal yourself to a total stranger?” 

“As far as I’m concerned, you’re my new best friend,” he said to him. He pulled off his mask and held out his hand to Keiji. 

Keiji looked back at the black and white hair sticking up on top of his head and his arched eyebrows above his glowing eyes. 

Hesitantly, Keiji shook his hand. 

“Bokuto Koutarou,” the owl man introduced himself. “Also known as Owl-Man.” 

_I shouldn’t be getting involved with somebody like this…_ Keiji told himself. But against his thoughts, he introduced himself to Owl-Man. 

“Akaashi Keiji.” 

“Akaashi, you’re now my friend. Welcome to Team Owl.” 

“We need to work on these names,” Keiji commented sardonically. 

* * *

Mai grabbed Keiji by the hood of his pullover before he could leave out the front door. She pulled him back and frowned up at him with a look of disapproval painted across her face. 

Keiji knew this expression well. It was the expression that she got whenever she was cross with him. 

But unlike other times, Keiji had no idea why she would be upset with him. 

“What’s the matter, Aunt Mai?” he asked her. 

“What’s the matter? Oh, I don’t know…” She let go of his hood and slapped the newspaper that she had had rolled up in his other hand onto the tabletop. “Maybe _this_ is what’s the matter.” 

Keiji looked down at the article. It was on the cover of _The Daily Tokgle_ and was the article that he’d helped Ittetsu to write about Owl-Man, accompanied with some “candid” photos of the daring hero dashing through the sky and some alleyways. 

Confused, Keiji only looked up at his aunt. 

She looked back at him and sighed. “You took these pictures, right?” 

He nodded. 

“Keiji, that’s really dangerous!” she yelled. “I can’t believe you got so close to this guy to take such clear photos!” 

Keiji grabbed her hand as she plopped down into a chair. He patted it gently. “Aunt Mai, he’s not a criminal. My partner has been researching this guy for awhile now. He’s alright.” 

“That’s not what people are saying at the restaurant…” she said. “They think he’s a menace and that he’s scaring people half to death!” 

Keiji sighed and sat down across from her. He laid his arms across the table and let her slide her small hands into his slightly larger ones. He squeezed his aunt’s hands with care and looked back at her seriously. 

“I promised you that I would be safe, and I am. Just trust me.” His voice was as sweet as honey, and his expression was as soft as cotton. 

She looked back at him helplessly. “I don’t know, Keiji… I worry about you. Losing Benjirou was hard… If I lose you, too, I…” She gripped his hands even more and looked at him with sadness in his eyes. 

He smiled at her gingerly. “I won’t get hurt. I’ll be extra careful.” 

“You promise?” 

“I promise.” He stood up from his seat and went around to kiss the top of Mai’s head. “Now, I need to get to Takeda-san. We’re working on another story.” 

She looked after him as he hurried out the door. She sighed and folded her hands on top of the table, praying that her nephew would be safe from harm’s way. 


	2. II.

Koutarou watched Keiji in silence. It was a rare moment whenever Koutarou would keep anything on his mind to himself and just pay attention to what Keiji was doing instead. 

His eyes trailed wherever Keiji’s hands went as he messed with his camera and carefully examined the pictures as they popped up on the computer. 

Koutarou bit his lip as he saw Keiji make a disapproving face and delete one of the pictures. 

There was tension building up within Koutarou. Every time that Keiji came over to his house, Koutarou wanted to blurt out that he thought that he was cute. But he knew that he couldn’t do that. He didn’t want to scare off his new friend, and he didn’t want to complicate their relationship either. 

“Bokuto-san, you seem kind of tense,” Keiji remarked, not even looking away from the computer. 

Koutarou straightened up from behind him and rubbed the nape of his neck. 

“You’re deleting so many pictures!” he blurted out, trying to cover up her personal problems. 

“Well, a lot of these have something that can pinpoint your location in them.” He clicked on the recycling bin icon and restored one of the photos. He previewed it and pointed to a birdbath from Koutarou’s backyard. “This birdbath is unique. I’ve never seen another birdbath like this. If somebody were to recognize it, they could call the police, and they’ll come and question you. And truthfully, I don’t think you could handle the pressure of that.” 

Koutarou’s eyes widened, and he arched his shoulders in defense. 

“That’s not fair, Akaashi!” he exclaimed. 

“I’m trying to save you from unnecessary things,” Keiji explained. He deleted two more pictures and then took the USB cord to the camera out from the computer. He swiveled around in the computer chair to face Koutarou’s direction and look up at him. He stood up, keeping his eyes on Koutarou’s. “I can’t have anything happen to you.” 

Koutarou stared back at him in surprise. “You _can’t_?” Koutarou smiled at him. 

Realizing what he’d just said, a small blush spread across his nose. Keiji held his camera close to his chest and looked down at the ground in embarrassment. 

“All I meant was that—” 

Koutarou put his arm around Keiji’s shoulders, cutting him off. “Just admit that you worry about me! It’s okay! I promise I won’t tell anybody.” 

Keiji’s shoulders tensed, and he looked at Koutarou. 

“It’s not _just_ that,” he said, moving out from underneath Koutarou’s arm. He started packing up his things into his shoulder bag. He was trying to hide his blush away from Koutarou. He didn’t want Koutarou getting the wrong idea. 

Sure, Keiji had started to take a liking to his new friend, but he didn’t think that these feelings were romantic or anything. They were strictly platonic. 

_Strictly,_ Keiji told himself. 

He looked at Koutarou as he pulled his strap over his head and across his chest. Koutarou looked so tall compared to Keiji. He looked much bulkier than him, too. He seemed like a different breed of person. 

And maybe he was. Koutarou had superpowers, after all. 

_“I went on a field trip with my school to some weird science place,”_ Koutarou had told him. “ _They had some owls there, and I didn’t like seeing them all cooped up in cages, so I tried to free them. One of them bit me because it was scared. I had to run off before I was caught.”_

_“Don’t they have security cameras in places like that?”_ Keiji had asked him. 

_“Yeah, but the owls were never released, and I had my hood on, so I guess they never figured out who I was. I’m stealthy!”_ Koutarou had moved his hands around in slow motion, creating the illusion that he was some kind of spy. 

_“So, the owl bit you and you got powers?”_ Keiji had asked, ignoring his hand movements. 

_“Yeah! I started getting powers the next day. It freaked me out at first, but I got the hang of them. I can fly, too. I can create wings that come out my back and use them to help people!”_

It had been a weird conversation. The weirdest conversation that Keiji had ever had before. But it made Keiji realize that Koutarou was an extraordinary person. He wasn’t like most of them. He had these peculiar abilities and was using them to help others. 

Koutarou was special, and Keiji believed that he was important. He was important to a lot of people by now. The stories about him had made him into a celebrity amongst the city. He was important to Keiji, too. He was his friend, and he didn’t want anything to happen to him. 

Looking up at Koutarou made Keiji forget what he was going to add. He closed his mouth and shook his head, walking past Koutarou and quickly murmuring that he needed to get to work. 

Koutarou watched after him in confusion. 

* * *

_I can’t complicate things. I can’t do that. I can’t tell him anything like that. He might get the wrong idea. We’re_ just _friends. That’s it. Nothing else._

Keiji’s thoughts were running rampant, and he laid his head down on the desk and covered it up with his arms. 

_This would be so much simpler if I weren’t so worried over every little thing…_

“Keiji-kun, are you alright?” 

At the sound of Ittetsu’s voice, Keiji lifted his head up from his partner’s desk. He quickly stood up and bowed apologetically. 

“I’m sorry, Takeda-san.” 

“Oh, no worries. My desk is your desk,” he said, laughing lightly and fixing his glasses. “But are you alright? You seem kind of down.” 

Keiji picked up his camera and looked down at the screen. He slowly clicked through the pictures that he’d taken of Koutarou earlier that day. 

He sighed and placed the camera back onto the desk. 

“It’s nothing to worry about,” he assured the older man. “Just... school…” he lied. 

“Ah, school. It must be very stressful having to balance work and school, huh?” Ittetsu sat down at his desk and picked up Keiji’s camera. 

He clicked through the pictures, and his eyes widened when he passed by all of the ones of Owl-Man. He was used to seeing such clear photos of the newly acclaimed superhero that’d been helping out lots of citizens lately. He never questioned Keiji on how he’d gotten such vivid shots of the strange hero, but he suddenly looked up at Keiji when he came across a picture that came after all of the Owl-Man photos. 

“Uh… Keiji-kun?” 

Keiji looked at him. “Yes?” 

Ittetsu turned the camera around to show Keiji a picture of him sitting outside of Koutarou’s home. The background was much similar to the ones that had been taken of Owl-Man, but that wasn’t what made Keiji’s skin crawl and him hold his breath. 

Koutarou was in the shot. Luckily, his mask was on, but he was shooting a peace sign at the camera while Keiji sat in the background, not even aware that he’d even taken the picture. 

Thinking that he could’ve sworn that he’d looked thoroughly through _all_ of the pictures on the camera, Keiji looked back at Ittetsu with fearful eyes. 

“Do you… D-do you actually _know_ Owl-Man?” he questioned him. 

There was a moment of panic that ran through Keiji’s body. He went stiff, and his usual calm outward appearance was clearly straining as he stared back at his superior. The tick of a clock on the wall could barely be heard against the blood rushing inside of Keiji’s ears. 

His hooded sweatshirt seemed to be suffocating him as he pulled at the collar and looked down at the floor. 

“Of course not…” he lied. 

“Then… what do you have to say about this?” Ittetsu inquired nervously. It wasn’t like he wanted to get Keiji into trouble. He was just very concerned about the young photographer’s wellbeing. 

“He’s…” 

Ittetsu stood up and walked around his desk to look back at Keiji with visible concern. He handed the camera back to his young partner and gently placed his hand onto Keiji’s shoulder, looking straight back at him. 

“Keiji-kun, if you actually know him, I promise I won’t say anything. I just want to know that you’re safe. You’re so young, and I don’t want you to get into trouble or be put into danger because you know somebody like this.” 

There was a chill that ran down Keiji’s spine. He wanted to trust Ittetsu. He was always so concerned and very nice, but Keiji didn’t know him well enough to know if he’d actually keep his promise. 

_It’s not like you’re telling him_ who _he is,_ Keiji’s mind told him. 

“He’s not really Owl-Man,” Keiji said suddenly. 

Ittetsu blinked back at the young photographer and leaned against his desk. He looked at Keiji in front of him. “He’s not?” 

“No,” Keiji said as the lie was beginning to form. “He… comes with me so that I’m not alone when I’m taking pictures of Owl-Man.” _Stop lying, Keiji._ “He bought one of those Owl-Man masks and wigs one day, and I guess he took a picture while wearing them without me realizing.” _You have to. You can’t let anyone know about Koutarou._

The lie didn’t seem plausible to Keiji. He wasn’t even sure of his partner would believe him. But when Ittetsu sighed from relief, placing his hand over his heart with a simple smile placed across his lips, Keiji realized that the lie had actually worked. 

“I’m so relieved. I always get so nervous when you go out to take pictures of this guy. N-not that I think he’s a bad guy!” He waved his hands quickly when Keiji narrowed his eyes towards him. “Your research has changed my mind about him. It’s the criminals that he has to face that worry me when you get these pictures.” 

Keiji softened his eyes. “I’m fine, Takeda-san. Please don’t worry.” 

“I can’t help it, Keiji-kun,” he responded wistfully, turning around and shuffling papers around on top of his desk. “I’ve come to really like you as a person. You have a lot of potential, and I would hate to see such a young person such as yourself get hurt because of this job.” He stood up straight as he held some of the papers in his hands. He straightened them up and peered back at Keiji. “You’re important to me. I’m like your… older brother, if you will.” He smiled at him gently. 

Keiji looked back at Ittetsu. He was a good guy. He was kind and fragile and cared a lot about him, especially because of his age. Knowing that he’d been making Ittetsu worry because of these pictures made Keiji feel guilty for lying to him. But he couldn’t let anyone know. He wasn’t sure who to trust. 

“Thank you, Takeda-san,” Keiji said with a returned grin. 

“You can call me Ittetsu, you know,” Ittetsu told him. He gathered up the rest of his papers and stuck them into a briefcase that sat beside his desk. “I wouldn’t mind.” 

Keiji blinked back at him and nodded. 

“Now… just print out those photos and email me the story behind them. I’ll write up a report and send it off for the paper tomorrow.” 

“Alright.” Keiji watched Ittetsu leave the office. He looked back down at his camera and frowned at the photo that Koutarou had taken of himself. 

* * *

“Do you have _any_ idea how hard it was for me to look Ittetsu in the face and _lie_ to him about this?” Keiji showed Koutarou the photo as Koutarou sat in the computer chair with his head facing the ground and his hands between his knees. 

“I’m sorry, Akaashi…” 

“Bokuto-san, you cannot be careless.” Keiji sighed and rubbed his temples. “If you continue to be irresponsible, then you cannot be a superhero anymore.” 

Koutarou snapped his head upwards and widened his eyes up at Keiji. He bounced out of the chair and threw his arms up into the air. “WHAT?!” 

Keiji only frowned at him. 

“Akaashiiiiii! That’s not fair! I’m a superhero! I want to help people. You can’t just _ground_ me from being one.” 

“I’m not _grounding_ you,” Keiji told him. “I’m trying to _protect_ you.” 

Koutarou looked back at Keiji. He started to frown back at him. He didn’t like being told what to do. He knew what he wanted to do, and he didn’t appreciate Keiji telling him that he could no longer do it. On the spur of the moment, he snapped, saying, “I don’t _need_ protecting.” He took the camera away from Keiji and deleted the picture before handing it back to him. “There. It’s not an issue anymore.” 

Keiji blinked back at him in shock. It wasn’t often that Keiji felt mad at Koutarou. Sure, he’d get annoyed with him, but he suddenly felt upset and angry with him for acting so snippy towards him. 

_This is probably one of the moods that he was talking about,_ Keiji thought. But he didn’t care if Koutarou was experiencing one of his moods. He still didn’t need to be treated this way. 

“You’re acting ridiculously,” he retorted, frowning. 

“You can’t just tell me what to do.” 

“Is this what this about?” Keiji frowned. “I’m not telling you what to do. You just need to be more careful.” 

“You said that I can’t be a superhero anymore. That’s not your decision to make!” 

Keiji gripped the camera tightly in his hands and narrowed his eyes at Koutarou. He’d never seen Koutarou act so rudely or childishly, and honestly, he wasn’t going to take this anymore. He didn’t care about the picture anymore. If Koutarou says that he doesn’t need protecting, Keiji wasn’t going to say anything. He wasn’t going to stop him. 

“Fine,” he spoke calmly, loosening his grip on the camera. “That’s not exactly what I said, but _fine_. I won’t say anything again.” He grabbed his bag and stuck his camera inside of it. He put it on over his shoulder and headed towards the door. 

Koutarou softened his eyes and looked after him. “Akaashi? Wait, you don’t have to leave…” 

Without looking back, Keiji held onto the doorknob. He sighed and nodded. “I do.” He opened the door and walked down the hallway. He heard Koutarou run out of his bedroom. He called out his name, but Keiji ignored him and continued to the back door. 

“Akaashi, wait! I’m sorry!” Koutarou’s voice stung at Keiji’s heart as he opened the glass sliding door that led out to the backyard. He hesitated but decided to keep going. He closed the door and heard it open quickly again, but he didn’t dare look back. “I was being a jerk!” 

“Yes, you were,” he said as he stopped in the middle of the backyard. He could smell roses growing near the edge of the house, and he kept his gaze on the birdbath in the yard. He watched a small gray and white bird sit on the edge of it. A larger with slightly unkempt feathers adorned atop its head splashed around wildly, getting the smaller bird wet until it flew off, leaving the larger bird to stop and look after it wearily. 

Koutarou sighed and let his arms hang at his sides. 

“You were right. I was being ridiculous.” 

Keiji kept still as he listened to him with his back turned towards him. He gripped the strap of his back pack as he pursed his lips together. 

Koutarou ran his hand over his hair as he walked slowly towards Keiji. “I didn’t mean to make you mad. I’m just—” 

“Stubborn,” Keiji said. “Childish.” He felt Koutarou right at his backside now. “Careless,” he added. He felt compelled to turn around, but he didn’t move. He was standing up straight and wanted to hold his ground. He didn’t want to look at Koutarou, but then again, he did. He wanted to face him, but he didn’t give in. He stayed right where he was. 

Koutarou groaned and laughed underneath his breath. “I’m sorry.” 

“You keep saying that,” Keiji pointed out. “That doesn’t make how you acted okay.” 

“I’m sor—” He paused and bit his lip. He sighed and hung his head. “I really am though. I’ll try to stop acting like that whenever I get mad. I know you meant well. I just don’t like being told that I can’t do something.” 

“I’ve realized that,” Keiji said calmly. He really wanted to turn around and tell Koutarou that it was okay, but it wasn’t. Maybe Keiji was being just as childish, but he was hurt by Koutarou acting like he was the bad guy for wanting him to stop being so careless. But as Keiji thought more about it for a few seconds, he loosened his grip on his strap. “But I shouldn’t have told you that you couldn’t be a superhero anymore. You were right, too. It’s not my decision to make.” 

Keiji could practically hear Koutarou smiling behind him. He felt a pair of hands rest against his shoulders. 

“You were only looking out for me,” Koutarou said lowly. His breath hit against Keiji’s ear, and Keiji stiffened at the small trickle of air that ran across his skin. “You’ve really helped me these past few months, too. You helped Owl-Man to become a hero, and you’re not wrong for wanting me to be more careful. I should be.” 

“Bokuto…” 

Koutarou perked up at Keiji dropping the “-san” from his name. He started to smile as he continued to listen to Keiji speak. 

“I just don’t want anything to happen to you,” he admitted. “You are my friend, after all.” 

Koutarou laughed. Keiji could detect a hint of nervousness in it, but Koutarou was able to cover up his nervousness well. He wrapped his arms around Keiji and placed his chin against Keiji’s shoulder. 

“I know, and I’m glad! I’m sorry for being a jerk, Akaashi. I really am.” 

“I’m sorry, too.” Keiji smiled. Koutarou’s arms lessened their squeezing, and Keiji was finally able to turn around to face Koutarou. Koutarou’s eyes glistened with delight at being able to see his face again, and Keiji’s neck started to turn red from a blush creeping up from his chest. 

“I’m kind of excited that this happened!” Koutarou said rather cheerfully. 

Keiji lifted his brow. 

“You know, because it’s our first fight as friends. That’s healthy, right?” 

Keiji started to smile. “I suppose so.” 

Koutarou smiled back at him. “And don’t worry, Akaashi. I’ll be more careful. I won’t let anything happen to me. And I want let anything happen to you either,” he added with a small smirk. 

Keiji lowered his eyes as he looked back at Koutarou. “Promise?” 

“Promise!” 


	3. III.

Koutarou and Keiji walked along the sidewalk’s path. Koutarou was happily telling Keiji about his grandmother wanting to add things to their backyard. 

“She wants more flowers and a swing for the yard. I told her that I could help her build one.” He puffed out his chest and grinned widely. 

“Are you good with tools?” 

Koutarou looked at him in shock. “Of course I am!” 

Keiji smiled at him gently. “Alright. I can help you if you’d like.” 

“My grandma would love that! She really likes you, you know. She thinks you’re sweet.” He smiled at him warmly enough to earn pink ears from Keiji. 

Keiji looked at him and then lowered his head towards the ground. He fiddled with his fingers in front of his waist. He wasn’t used to people expressing their feelings about him, especially if they liked him. 

“She’s very nice,” Keiji responded sheepishly. 

Koutarou nodded. “She’ll really like that you’ll be helping me build—” He stopped talking as they heard a commotion at the end of the street. There was a scream as a woman tripped out of a building’s open door and landed on the sidewalk on her back in a cringing way. 

Before either of them could react, a man in a black, skintight suit hovered over her. His suit’s arms created the illusion of feathers, and the markings along the suit reminded Keiji of a black swan. He backed away suddenly as Koutarou glanced around them before putting on his mask and manifesting his wings. 

“W-wait!” Keiji called after him. 

But it was too late. Koutarou dove into the action. The woman screamed again, and Koutarou pushed back the swan man with so much forced that he crashed through the building’s window. 

He looked down at the woman and asked if she was okay and what was going on. 

“H-he’s trying to kill me!” she cried out. 

“I won’t let him,” Koutarou promised her. He helped her up quickly and told her to run. 

Keiji watched her run past him and disappear around the corner as fast as she could. With his attention momentarily distracted by her getaway, Keiji abruptly turned his head around when he heard a grippingly cold voice say, “Do you realize what you’ve just done?” 

He held his breath as the swan man stood up and staggered for a moment before narrowing his eyes at Koutarou. 

“Uh, saved a woman’s life? Yeah, I do know what I just did.” 

Keiji mentally groaned at his comment. He was going to get himself killed acting so casual. This wasn’t like the other times where Koutarou saved others from every day events. This wasn’t like when he stopped a bank robber and had him put away. This wasn’t like when he saved Keiji from that creepy man that chased him all the way up to a rooftop. This wasn’t like anything that they’d dealt with before. This was clearly a different situation, and Keiji didn’t feel right allowing Koutarou to pursue someone so obviously dangerous. 

The swan man laughed and smiled at Koutarou. 

“A hero with a sense of humor! That’s refreshing! You must be that Owl-Man that I keep reading about in the papers.” 

Koutarou looked back at him with a cocked brow. “And who are _you_? And why were you trying to kill that lady?” 

He sighed and rubbed his temples. “I can’t believe that I’m not well-known yet. This is ridiculous. I’m Dark Swan. I’m a supervillain. That lady was my dad’s old assistant, and I found out that she double-crossed him, so I needed to make her pay.” He made a fist and gripped firmly as he clenched his teeth together. 

“Isn’t that a little too much? Shouldn’t your dad be handling this?” Koutarou questioned him with a wide-eyed stare directed at the other bird-like person. 

Keiji looked at his figure and his face. He had a black mask over his eyes and a red bill that made him look more like the creature that he claimed to be. 

“I’m over the top!” he retorted with a scoff. “And my dad was sent to prison because of this double-crossing. So, I took his old suit that he made and gained these powers. Pretty cool, huh?” He smiled proudly and put his hands on his hips to do the Wonder Woman pose. 

“The suit’s really impressive,” Koutarou told him as he walked around Dark Swan. He noticed his red hair sticking out everywhere. “And your hair is awesome.” 

“Spiked hair always is.” 

“I know, right?!” 

Keiji massaged his temples as he wondered what Koutarou was doing conversing with a villain like they were the best of friends. He sighed and widened his eyes when Dark Swan suddenly spotted him a few feet away from them. He watched his grin widen, and the bird villain walked himself over to Keiji. 

“Hello!” he greeted himself loudly. Keiji shrank back a bit at his voice. “Passing through?” 

“Hey, leave him alone,” Koutarou interrupted. “He has nothing to do with you.” 

“Does he have anything to do with _you_?” Dark Swan asked, turning around to face Koutarou with a smirk. 

Koutarou frowned. “He was just walking by. Right?” He looked at Keiji with expanded eyes, wanting him to take the hint and leave as quickly as possible. 

Keiji glanced at him and then back at Dark Swan. He nodded slowly, stepping back from them. “I was only—” 

Dark Swan laughed and got far too close to Keiji’s for his own comfort. Keiji leaned back away from him, but he froze when Dark Swan grabbed him by the arm. 

“You’re lying!” he told him. “I saw you right before Owl-Man here pushed me through the window. You’re associated with him, aren’t you?” 

“I’m… no—” 

“You must be a compulsive liar,” he said casually. His eyes were round, and his mouth curled into a devilish grin. 

“Let him go!” Koutarou shouted. He went to grab Dark Swan’s arm away from Keiji’s, but Dark Swan dodged him and picked Keiji up into his arms. Keiji watched Koutarou’s eyes widen in alarm, and Keiji tried wriggling out of the villain’s grasp. “Hey! I said let him go!” 

Koutarou narrowed his eyes at him and lunged forward, only for Dark Swan to kick him right in the jaw with his foot. Koutarou stumbled to the pavement and groaned from the pain that shot through his face. He looked up as Dark Swan released Keiji, pushing him to the ground next to Koutarou. 

“You were fun to talk to,” he admitted cheerfully, “but you’re a hero. I’m a villain. That makes you my enemy. Plus, you let my dad’s former assistant escape. I have to find her all over again!” 

“Don’t touch her!” Koutarou growled up at him. 

Dark Swan’s eyes went wild as his grin broadened in such a sinister way that it gave Keiji chills. 

To put it simply, the young villain scared him. There was something psychotic about the way that he grinned and presented himself. It was as if he enjoyed wanting to kill or hurt others. He reminded Keiji so much of the Joker from those fictional comic books. But he was real, and it made Keiji feel sick in the pit of his stomach. 

“I can do whatever I want to,” he told Koutarou with his hands on his hips as he bent his body down towards him. 

“I won’t let you,” Koutarou said. He stood up and glowered at Dark Swan with spite. It was the first time that Keiji had seen Koutarou look so intimidating. He stayed on the ground, looking up at the two of them with a fearful gaze and frozen in his position. 

Dark Swan smirked back at Koutarou. “We’re rivals now. This should be fun. You better watch your back, _Owl-Man_.” He laughed manically as he shot up into the sky and flew away using his powerful suit. 

Koutarou stared after him and quickly shook his head and turned to help Keiji up. 

“Bokuto, this isn’t good,” Keiji said as he held onto Koutarou’s hand. 

“Don’t worry, Akaashi,” Koutarou said, smiling at him delicately. He looked around before taking off his mask and letting his wings disintegrate like pixie dust popping up out of nowhere. 

Keiji still found it bewildering that he could just create wings from his back, but he shook the amazement away as he looked back at Koutarou with a concerned look in his eyes. “This isn’t _good_ , Bokuto,” he repeated with panic rising in his voice. “He’s too dangerous.” 

Koutarou put his hands onto Keiji’s shoulders and looked down at him. “I won’t let anything happen to anyone. Being a superhero is dangerous work.” 

“It wasn’t _this_ dangerous until today.” Keiji brushed off his hands and peered up at the sky cautiously. He looked back at Koutarou when he didn’t reply. He softened his eyes and held out his hand to him. Koutarou hesitated but took a hold of Keiji’s hand. 

When Keiji squeezed Koutarou’s hand too tight, Koutarou asked, “Akaashi, are you okay?” 

“You promised,” Keiji said sadly, lowering his head. 

Koutarou softened his gaze and lifted Keiji’s chin up so that he would look at him. Keiji blinked back up at those captivatingly golden eyes. They reminded him of the treasures that the earth held; hard to find but valuable when found. 

His eyes usually made Keiji feel so many things at once: confusion, comfort, compassion. Koutarou’s eyes were a work of art, and Keiji expected them to glisten brightly every day because of the small specks of sun that rested within them. 

_Sunshine and gold…_ Keiji’s never thought that he’d ever find eyes that precious. 

He caught his breath when Koutarou smiled back at him and said something. He just stood there as he’d missed what he’d said until Koutarou repeated himself. 

“You hear me? I know that I promised. I intend to keep that promise.” His voice was tender and his hand in his was welcoming. 

Despite the warmth that Koutarou made Keiji feel, he still felt surrounded by coldness. He didn’t want Koutarou getting hurt. He didn’t trust this villain, and he didn’t like that he’d declared him and Koutarou rivals. That was never good, and Keiji felt a tug in his heart when his mind flashed to a horrible future where Koutarou was no longer with him because of his obsession with being a hero. 

“Bokuto, I know that you want to help others,” Keiji began dryly. He felt a lump form within his throat and gave himself a moment to compose himself. “But... is it only because you got these powers?” 

Koutarou stepped back from him when he said that, leaving Keiji looking down at the sidewalk. He could hear Koutarou shuffle his feet and say, “I got these powers for a _reason_ , Akaashi. I wanted to use them to do good because I never thought that I could do much before.” 

Keiji lifted his head up and looked back at Koutarou. His held back the tears that wanted to slip from his eyeballs. He didn’t need to look so vulnerable in front of Koutarou. He would never be able to fully explain to Koutarou why he was so upset without admitting to things that he’d so desperately been trying to push away from his mind. 

Seeing the strained looked on Keiji’s face, Koutarou ran his hand over his black and white locks and offered Keiji a bright smile. 

“Don’t look so upset, Akaashi!” He stood beside him again and put his arm around Keiji’s shoulders and gripped his upper arm on the other side. “I know you care a lot about me not getting hurt, but I’m capable of—” 

“How’s your jaw?” Keiji interrupted him. He didn’t meet his gaze, keeping his eyes focused on the minerals sparkling in the concrete that they were standing on. 

Koutarou chuckled and touched his jaw. “It doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. I must have some fast healing powers, too! Maybe I’m invincible!” 

Keiji sighed. “No one’s invincible…” 

* * *

Tears fell down his face. They stuck to his burning cheeks and made his skin sticky. He sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve, leaving the tears streaming from his eyes and down to his chin to drop down onto the bed. 

Staring out his window, Keiji watched the drops of water slide down the glass. The sound of thunder erupted above the house, and the rain poured harder with it. 

“Keiji, dinner’s read—” 

Keiji wiped his tears from his cheeks and tried to hide his face from his aunt as she opened his door unexpectedly. He could practically picture her face as he was turned away from her: lowered eyelids, worried eyes, and a slightly gaping mouth. 

“Honey, what’s the matter?” 

“I’m fine, Aunt Mai,” he told her. 

“I didn’t ask if you were fine. I asked you what’s the matter.” 

“It’s nothing…” 

“Akaashi Keiji, you better tell me what’s wrong with you,” she said sternly. “I need to know what’s going on with you because I need to know how I can help. It’d make it a lot easier on me if you were more open, you know.” 

Sighing, Keiji finally turned to face her as he sat up more on his bed. He pulled his knees up to his chest and gave her a pitiful look that meant that he wanted her to come and sit beside him for comfort. She accepted his invitation and scooted in to sit next to her nephew on the bed. 

“What’s wrong, Keiji?” she asked softly. 

“Aunt Mai… how…” Keiji rested his forehead against his knees and let out another heated sigh. He didn’t know how to ask his aunt about this. How would she react if he did? He didn’t want to complicate things, but he was feeling lost, and he didn’t know how to ask for help. He didn’t know anything. 

She put her hand on his back and rubbed it like she used to whenever he was a kid and feeling upset over something. It always calmed his nerves. 

“‘How’ what?” she asked him. 

The rubbing against his back warmed his insides with ease, and he suddenly felt more relaxed at the gentle and supportive touch from his aunt. He lifted his head up again but didn’t look at her face as his mind searched for the right words to say. 

_How do you know that you’re in love?_

_No, that’s not good._

_How do you tell somebody that you don’t want to lose them because you’re in love with them?_

_That’s too loaded._

_How do you force the person that you’re completed infatuated with to stop being a superhero because you’re scared that he’ll die and you’ll be left without him?_

_That’s too long…_

Keiji leaned against his aunt’s shoulder and sighed. 

“Sighing doesn’t give me answers, Keiji,” she said with a smile. She reached her hand around to brush back his wavy locks from his eyes. “Use your words, not your sounds.” 

“I’m sorry,” he apologized effortlessly. “I just don’t know how to ask this question…” 

“Well, come and eat dinner and maybe it’ll come to you. You can ask me once you figure it out, huh?” 

Keiji nodded and stood up from the bed with his aunt. He continued to think of how to ask her for help because of the situation that he was in as he followed her out of his bedroom and into the dining room. 

* * *

Mai turned over in her bed to find her nephew nestling in under the covers. She grinned at him tiredly and waited for him to get settled in before asking him if he’d thought of how to ask her about what was bothering him earlier. 

Nodding, Keiji looked back at his aunt. His eyes looked weary and bloodshot, while his body was exhausted and drained. He’d been racking his brain for hours and had cried through his thoughts for just as long. He was mentally sapped, but as he peered back at his aunt, who waited patiently for him to speak, he gave her a quick grin before lowering the smile into a sad frown. 

“Aunt Mai, I have a really big problem,” he started out hastily. “I have this friend… He’s a good person and helps a lot of people, but what he does is also really dangerous. It’s gotten even more dangerous, and I don’t want to tell him what to do, but I don’t want him getting killed because of his… job… How do I make him understand that this probably isn’t what he needs to be doing anymore?” 

Keiji waited breathlessly for his aunt to speak and tell him what to do. It was a routine for him to ask his aunt for help and then for her to tell him how to go about the situation. It was a comfortable arrangement, and his aunt usually had the right idea about things. 

Mai mulled over Keiji’s words for a moment. Keiji watched her quietly and widened his eyes in expectance when she turned to face him again. 

“Keiji,” she said as gently as she possibly could, “I know that you may worry about your friend a lot, but this is his job. There are a lot of dangerous jobs out there, but you have to understand that people like your friend _know_ that. They know the risks, but they’re still willing to put themselves in harm’s way to help others that can’t help themselves. You should just support you friend.” 

Keiji’s heart ached when she finished talking. He wanted to tell her that it wasn’t that simple, but he knew that she wouldn’t understand why he was so desperate. She wouldn’t understand why he was so shaken by Koutarou being a superhero. He couldn’t give Koutarou’s identity away, and he definitely couldn’t come out to her like this. 

Mai reached over and kissed his forehead suddenly. She pushed back his hair and smiled at him. 

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” 

Keiji shot up in the bed and looked down at her. His eyes went defensive, and his mouth hung open slightly. “W-what?” 

She chuckled and hugged the top of the covers. “I can just tell,” she told him. “It’s alright, Keiji. I know it may hurt to watch him do something so dangerous, but like I said, you just need to support him. Be there for him. Worry about him, but don’t smother him. I’ve learned to do that myself with you recently. It’s difficult, but it’s something that must be done sometimes.” 

“Aunt Mai…” 

“Go on to bed, Keiji. You look awfully tired.” 

Keiji sighed and got out of her bed. 

“And quit sighing so much!” she called after him. “You’ll deflate!” 

“Yes, ma’am,” Keiji said, humoring her before exiting her bedroom. He made his way back to his bedroom. He was confused and conflicted, but he oddly felt better after talking with his aunt for just a short amount of time. He knew that she was right, but for the first time, he wished that she wasn’t. He didn’t want to heed her advice, but what more could he do? Koutarou wouldn’t stop being a hero just because Keiji wanted him to, just like how Keiji wouldn’t stop hanging around Koutarou when his aunt was so worried about him. 

_No need to be selfish,_ Keiji told himself as he crawled into his own bed. He settled in underneath the covers and closed his eyes. 


	4. IV.

Keiji bit his lip. His heart pounded in his chest. His palms were sweating. His skin was clammy. 

He paced in front of a row of chairs in the waiting room. He fiddled with his fingers before pulling them up to chew on his fingernails without biting them off. He halted when he heard his name and hurried over to the doctor. 

“How’s he?” he asked quickly. 

“Remarkably well. He only has a sprained ankle this time. He’s a very lucky person,” the doctor told him. “But this is the twelfth time that we’ve seen him in the past five months. Sooner or later, his luck is going to run out. He needs to take it easy with this athletic career that he seems to have going on.” The doctor looked back at Keiji with a firm gaze. “What sport did you say that he was doing again?” 

“Volleyball, martial arts, and… boxing,” Keiji lied, giving the doctor an apologetic smile. “I’ll make sure that he takes it easy.” 

“Please do. Should I call his grandparents this time?” 

“No, I’ll take him home.” 

The doctor nodded and excused himself. Moments later, Koutarou joined Keiji in the waiting room. He limped on his ankle. Keiji quickly helped him to walk and led him out of the hospital after checking him out. 

“Bokuto, I think it’s time that you take a break for awhile,” Keiji said as soon as they exited the building. 

“What?! No, I’m fine! I’ll be okay!” 

“That’s not the point.” Keiji frowned. “Black Swan has caused most of these incidents, trying to _kill_ you. You can’t keep coming to the emergency room. You need to take a break. You need to recuperate.” 

Koutarou scoffed loudly. “Heroes don’t take breaks!” 

“Yes, they do,” Keiji retorted. “I do not care what you say. You are taking a break.” 

“Akaashiiiii,” Koutarou whined. 

“Bokuto,” Keiji said sternly. 

Koutarou shut his mouth and stayed quiet long enough for Keiji to help him walk away from the hospital and to the bus stop in front of it. They both sat down on the bench, and Keiji sat up straight to keep a lookout for the bus. 

“Okay, I’ll take a short break,” Koutarou finally said. “Just a week.” 

“A month,” Keiji corrected him. 

“A month?!” 

“Your body needs to rest,” he informed him. “I would say that you needed to wait longer, but you’re impatient.” 

Koutarou murmured with his mouth closed and leaned back onto the bench in defeat. “Fiiiine,” he huffed out. “But what if Dark Swan starts wreaking havoc again? I gotta stop him, Akaashi! I can’t let my guard down!” 

“Please don’t worry about that right now,” Keiji pleaded exhaustedly. “Dark Swan can wait. People know about him now, so if he does anything, the police can handle it for awhile.” 

“You’re so unfair.” 

Keiji ignored Koutarou’s comment and made him stand when he noticed the bus rolling down the street. They waited for the bus to halt in front of them before boarding. Keiji and Koutarou sat down in the front. 

Koutarou made it his mission to point out every red car that he saw out the window as the bus drove them to their destination. Keiji was thankful for the game because it distracted Koutarou from their previous conversation, but Keiji felt uneasy as Koutarou continued to happily and excitedly point out the certain colored cars because he felt like he was being watched as Koutarou played his game. 

He glanced around when he felt a pair of eyes on him but slowly turned around and sat his back against the seat when he saw that nobody was looking at him. 

“Ooh! There’s one!” Koutaru nudged Keiji but did a double take when he noticed Keiji’s expression. “You okay, Akaashi?” 

“Hmm?” Keiji looked at him and then shook his head. “Yes. Just tired.” 

“We’re almost to my house,” Koutarou said. “You can take a nap there if you want.” 

“Thanks…” Keiji said distractedly. He kept his attention facing towards the front, but he still felt like a pair of eyes were watching him the entire bus ride to Koutarou’s house. 

* * *

Paranoia was setting in as Keiji walked out of Koutarou’s house. He felt safe when Koutarou waved goodbye to him, but as he walked down the sidewalk, the gnawing feeling that somebody was following him wouldn’t leave his mind. He felt like he was being watched and that somebody was trying to scare him. 

He didn’t like being followed. The first experience had been enough for him. 

He turned around several times as he walked, and he began to walk faster when he heard somebody chuckle behind him. 

_Run,_ his brain told him. _Run!_

Keiji listened to himself and started running. He didn’t dare look back when he started to heart flighty footsteps running after him. 

“Waaaiiit!” he heard the voice call out to him. 

The sound of beating wings sounded behind him, and he gasped when the sound stopped and a pair of arms grabbed him and pulled him into the alley. A cloth was placed across his mouth, and the last thing that Keiji remembered was a familiar swan-like villain grinning over him and saying, “There, there. Everything's going to be o…kay…” 

* * *

It was as if he’d swallowed a bowling ball made of lead. He stopped right at the entrance to the kitchen and swallowed a hard lump in his throat. The smell of food made him feel sick, and he excused himself, leaving his grandparents in the kitchen as he hurried back to his bedroom. 

_Why do I feel so bad?_ he asked himself. 

He lied back onto his bed and covered his face up with his hands, breathing in and out for a few minutes. The bothersome feeling that was bubbling up inside of him grew when he received a text message. 

Pulling out his phone, his nerves eased when he saw that it was from Keiji, but his heart sank down all the way to his feet when he realized that the text message wasn’t actually from him. 

I have your little friend!!!  
You should probably come and get  
him. He doesn’t look so hot hanging  
above this pit of acid, lololol. 

— Dark Swan 

Koutarou’s hands shook so rapidly that his phone fell from his hand. His breathing shortened, and he took in a few more deep breaths as he snatched up his phone and put his mask on. He opened up his bedroom window and manifested his wings and leapt out from the ledge. 

He beat his wings quickly, flying away from his house as fast as he could. He phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out quickly and narrowed his eyes down at the message. 

I’m at the old bread  
factory, btw :P 

— Dark Swan 

Koutarou’s eyes darkened when he slid his phone back into his pocket and flew towards the old bread factory on the other side of town. There was an unnerving thought that kept playing through Koutarou’s mind. He could just see Keiji hovering above a large pool of acid, screaming and trying to break free. He could picture Dark Swan laughing that annoying and cynical laugh of his as he lowered Keiji down until he— 

Koutarou shook the thought away and exhausted his wings until he nearly crashed into the wall of the factory. 

He let his wings droop behind him and located a door at the side. He put his ear up to the door and listened for any signs of life. He couldn’t hear a single thing, so he proceeded to open the door that led into the abandoned factory. 

A long string at the foot of the entrance tripped him and made him stumble more into the building. His ankle buckled, and Koutarou winced from the strain. 

Slicing his vision through the darkness, his eyes expanded as a group of arrows flew towards him. He hit the ground and turned around to watch the arrows hit the wall behind him. He frowned at the string that had triggered the trap. 

He stood up quickly, not putting too much weight on his ankle as he looked around. 

“Dark Swan?!” he called out angrily. “Where’s Akaashi?!” 

His phone buzzed in his pocket again. He swiftly retrieved it and let his face drop at the message in front of his eyes, blaring back at him in the darkness that engulfed the room. 

Whoops! My bad.  
We’re at the river. It’s  
secluded. Good for extending  
someone over some acid.  
See you soon! :* 

— Dark Swan 

Koutarou sneered to himself and ran out of the building with an urgent need to get to Keiji before anything happened to him. He wouldn’t even be able to live with himself if anything ever happened to Keiji. Keiji didn’t deserve any of this, and Koutarou realized that he may not be able to keep his promise to him. 

Tears stung at his eyes and disappeared quickly as he dashed through the sky. His wings ached, but Koutarou ignored the pain and kept flying. 

_I’m coming,_ _Keiji,_ he silently told him, hoping that he would know that he was trying to reach out to him. _I’m coming._

* * *

The branch shook as Koutarou landed in the tree. He used his nocturnal vision to pierce through the nighttime gloom. There was no sign of Keiji or Dark Swan anywhere, but Koutarou wasn’t sure which part of the river they were located at. 

He shot from the tree and trekked along the edge of the river cautiously. It roared against his ears. The sound resembled his bustle of thoughts and worries, creating a bubbling sensation of dread as his feet hurried along the bank. 

Of all the people that Koutarou had met in his life, Keiji was the most important one to him. He’d been so easy to trust when he’d first met him. He’d been so kind to help him become a hero in the eyes of the citizens. He’d been so caring to worry about him, even when Koutarou had acted like the biggest jerk back then. 

_I don’t deserve him, and he doesn’t deserve this,_ Koutarou thought with misery bleeding against the words that spread across his mind. 

His skin was becoming numb, and he rubbed his arms to warm his body up, but it was no use. Koutarou’s numbness ran deeper than just the chilled air hitting against his skin. 

He needed to get to Keiji. He needed to protect him and make sure that he was safe. 

_I love him. I can’t believe I let him get into this mess…_

It almost seemed inevitable that Koutarou would have to face something so drastically difficult. It was as if Dark Swan knew that Keiji was a large part of his life. It was like he knew that Keiji was his weakness. He was his kryptonite. 

Akaashi Keiji was addicting. He fueled Koutarou’s emotions and dreams, and he was hard to shake from his thoughts. 

The way that he walked, talked, laughed, smiled, frowned—everything that Keiji did was like watching a work of art coming to life. Keiji was beautiful. His face was timelessly handsome. His eyes were like the calm before the store. 

Koutarou had known long ago that he had a hopeless crush on Keiji. Ever since he’d seen him walk past that alleyway a year ago, he’d been struck by Cupid’s arrow. 

Finding him again after that was almost like fate. 

Now, Koutarou might lose him. He could lose Keiji, and he couldn’t bear to let that fear come true. 

He halted abruptly and pulled out his phone. He called Keiji’s cellphone and impatiently tapped his foot against the dirt. 

“I was wondering when you were going to call,” Dark Swan said over the other end. 

“Where is he?” Koutarou growled back at him. 

“He’s right here.” 

“But where is there?!” 

“Oh. Hmm…” Dark Swan chuckled lightly. “Okay, fine. I’m at Tencorp.” 

“Tencorp?!” 

The line went dead, and Koutarou picked his body up and spread his wings outward. He flapped them quickly and soared towards the facility. It was the place where he’d taken his field trip and had gotten bitten by that owl that had given him his powers. 

What Dark Swan was doing there, Koutarou wasn’t sure, but he didn’t care. He hurried to the building as quickly as he could, praying that Keiji was still safe when he got there. 


	5. V.

Death seemed like the most probable outcome. It was inevitable anyway. He was going to die, and he didn’t have the effort to care as he sat in the cage like an animal being kept locked away like it was a menace to everyone around it. 

The bottom of the cage was cold, and Keiji sat against the bars, feeling numb from the freezing container that kept him trapped above a large pit full of hydrofluoric acid. 

He stared down at his hands and curled his fingers up into his palms. He uncurled them slowly, curling them in and out several times to pass the time until he was eventually dropped into the pit that would end his life. 

There was a hollow feeling in his chest as he realized that he really _was_ going to die. He was going to be dropped ten feet down into the acid that was going to burn his skin to the point of demise. He was going to die, and he started to silently sob into his shaky hands. 

“Hey, why are you crying?” 

Keiji turned around to find Dark Swan standing on a platform below. He was looking up at him curiously, and his brow was lifted up in confusion at Keiji’s act of sorrow. 

“I-I’m going to die.” His voice was hoarse. A lump formed in his throat, and Keiji let out another strained sob. 

Dark Swan laughed and stared up at him amusingly. 

“That’s not the plan, silly!” 

Keiji blinked down at him through his tears and kept quiet. 

“The plan is to lure Owl-Man here so that I can kill him.” 

“You can’t do that,” Keiji said. He slid his hands around the bars and gripped them. His face hardened with a glower directed at Dark Swan. “You can’t kill him! Just leave him alone!” His voice echoed throughout the room and tears streamed down his cheeks. 

He was angry. He was melancholy. He was desperate. 

Dark Swan flew up to Keiji in the cage using his wings that sprouted out from his back. He smiled pleasantly at Keiji when he blinked back at Dark Swan in surprise. 

“He’s too much competition for me.” He hovered in front of Keiji. “Having another super with bird-like abilities creates jealousy in me. I’m kinda childish, you know.” 

Keiji’s pupils contracted, and he frowned back at him harshly. 

“But so is your boyfriend!” he taunted. “We’re too much alike, and you know what they say about people who are _too_ much alike; they just don’t get along. He’s starting to get on my nerves, and I need him gone. He keeps ruining my schemes, and I still haven’t found my dad’s former assistant.” 

He grabbed one of the bars and made the cage swing. 

Keiji’s eyes widened. He held onto the side of the cage and closed his eyes tightly, clenching his teeth together in fright. 

“He’s in my way. Once he’s out of the picture, I’ll let you go.” 

“Please don’t hurt him,” Keiji begged with his eyes still closed. He gripped the bars with so much force that his knuckles were beginning to pale. “I’ll do anything if you just don’t kill him.” 

“Too _late_! I’ve gone off the rails!” Dark Swan spread his arms outward and laughed. He swooped down and landed smoothly against the platform below. “He should be here soon anyway.” 

Keiji’s eyes popped open, and he stared over at the entrance. He bit his lip so hard that he could almost taste blood. 

_Don’t come, Koutarou… Don’t come…_

* * *

**ANTIDOTE X – REVERSE MUTATION**

Koutarou looked at the label on the bottle inside of the glass case. He shone his phone’s flashlight at it to see it better. He picked the lock with his pinky talon and carefully picked it up in his hands and peered around as he bit his lip, pressure rising in his body. 

A sense of urgency clawed at him, but he needed to know if this bottle that he’d been drawn to was going to help him defeat Dark Swan. He needed to be able to stabilize him long enough to free Keiji and escape with him out of the building. 

His eyes grazed over to a filing cabinet. 

He set the antidote on top of it and opened the last drawer of the cabinet. He found the file on the antidote that he had and skimmed through the file. His lips pulled up into a smirk. It was _just_ what he needed to stop Dark Swan. He put the file back into the cabinet and lifted his brow at another file name that had flashed across his vision just then. He pulled it out and blinked at the words with interest. 

_Where is this?_

He shone his flashlight on the storage case full of chemicals again and looked for a certain label. He chuckled to himself when he spotted it. He grabbed it from the case swiftly and then snatched Antidote X from atop the filing cabinet. 

Abandoning the office and hiding the two bottles inside his jacket’s pocket, Koutarou ran out of the room and down the hallway. His senses kicked into overdrive, and he followed the scent of a swan until he came to a large metal door. He pressed his ear against it but stumbled through when the door was opened without warning. 

“Welcome!” Dark Swan greeted him cheerfully. 

“K-Koutarou, run!” Keiji yelled at him from the cage ascended in the air. 

Koutarou’s eyes widened at his first name being called from Keiji’s mouth. His face heated up, and he pushed Dark Swan out of his way and pushed his wings out from his back. He readied himself to take flight, but Dark Swan snatched him by the wing and threw him to the ground with ease. 

“Oh, no, you don’t!” 

Dark Swan towered above Koutarou and drew out some talons from his fingers. He slashed down at Koutarou, slicing his talons across Koutarou’s face. 

Blood dripped onto the ground, and Koutarou touched his fresh wound. 

“What the hell, Dark Swan?” 

“This isn’t a game,” he told him. “I’m going to kill you. Get it?” 

Koutarou stretched his leg upward and kicked Darn Swan right in the chest. He stood up quickly and waited for the swan villain to lunge toward him before punching him right in the face. 

Dark Swan staggered backwards and hardly gave himself time to regain his composure before he turned around in a whirlwind motion and smacked Koutarou hard with his large black wings. 

There was a crunching sound as Koutarou hit the ground again. He groaned but widened his eyes when he heard the sound. He checked his pockets quickly and sighed from relief. 

“Hey, what’cha got there?” Dark Swan questioned him. He pointed at Koutarou’s pocket. 

“Nothing…” Koutarou told him. 

“Liar!” 

He grabbed Koutarou from underneath his arms and flew them upward. Koutarou kicked against the nothingness and demanded to be put down as he tried to flap his own wings but to no avail. Dark Swan immediately dropped Koutarou on top of Keiji’s cage and flew back to the platform. 

“Keiji!” Koutarou peered over the edge to take a look at him, but he steadied himself when the cage began to move. 

“Koutarou, you gotta get out of here,” he whispered from beneath him. “He’s going to kill you. I’m just bait.” 

“I promise that I’ll get you out of this,” Koutarou said. “I got a plan.” 

“Wha—” 

Koutarou plunged off of the cage smoothly and crashed right into Dark Swan below. They struggled on the ground for a moment before Koutarou pinned Dark Swan down. 

Dark Swan yelled up at him and scratched him with his talons when Koutarou removed one of his hands to pull out one of the bottles. 

“What is that?!” Dark Swan demanded to know. He pushed Koutarou off when he removed his other hand from his wrist. “What is that?” he repeated, backing up into the panel that controlled the chains that held the cage above the pit of acid. 

Koutarou stood up and snatched the cap off of the bottle. 

Dark Swan sneered at him and kicked his ankle, sending Koutarou buckling to the ground. 

“Get away!” 

“As if!” Koutarou bellowed back at him. He splashed some of the antidote onto Dark Swan’s eyes. The villain cowered as his talons shrank, and he screamed and covered his burning eyes with his hands. Koutarou took his chance to crawl over to him, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to stand on his ankle now that it’d been kicked. 

He got back on top of Dark Swan and poured the antidote into his mouth. 

“Gff iff mm!” Dark Swan pushed Koutarou aside, spitting out the bottle from his mouth. His eyes were stinging and liquid dripped from them as the whites had turned pink from the irritation. He grabbed a hold of the panel and helped himself to stand, using it as leverage. 

He looked down at his hands and watched as his talons disappeared completely. He growled at Koutarou on the ground. He walked over to him slowly and stood above him. 

“What the hell did you make me drink?!” 

“Antidote X,” Koutarou said casually. 

Dark Swan stared down at him. He blinked and lifted his leg to kick Koutarou, but Koutarou one upped him by tripping him with his good leg. 

The villain fell backwards and sat up with a groan and a hand to his back. His wings began to disappear, and his bloodshot eyes popped open. 

“What the?” 

“Your powers are gone, Dark Swan,” Koutarou told him. “That antidote gets rid of the mutations caused from any of the animals that were here. That’s what the file said.” 

Dark Swan stood up slowly and watched his swan features disappear. His keen senses vanished, and the only things that he had left was his black suit, red mask, and swan bill. 

“No… No!” He screamed out in anguish. “My powers! There’s no way to get those back!” 

“How come?” Koutarou asked nonchalantly. 

“Because that’s what my dad’s assistant did! She reverted the animals’ genetic codes back to their original states and ratted him out!” He glared at Koutarou. “ _You_ are going to pay.” 

“Dunno,” Koutarou said as he stood up and tried to put pressure on his ankle. He winced and stayed on his toes instead. “I kinda had something else up my sleeve.” He pulled out the other bottle and snatched off the cap. “Or pocket.” 

Dark Swan’s face fell. He ran to the door, but Koutarou swished his wings to create enough wind power to knock his nemesis to the ground. He limped over to him and kicked Dark Swan against the wall, regretting putting even _more_ strain on his ankle. 

“Open up!” Koutarou exclaimed happily, ignoring the pain and beaming down at Dark Swan before forcing him to drink the other elixir. 

Dark Swan struggled against him before his eyelids began to close, and he passed out on the ground. 

Koutarou smiled and left the unconscious villain on the ground. He turned around and looked up at Keiji. He hurried over to the control panel and peered down at the buttons carefully. With his teeth digging into his bottom lip, he took a leap of faith and pressed one of the buttons that said “VAULT” beneath it. 

He looked up from the panel when he heard the sound of a barrier reaching out from the sides of the large container below Keiji, sealing the acid beneath it. 

Smiling, Koutarou took hold of a lever and carefully made the cage descend back down to the platform. 

He limped over to Keiji as quickly as he could and unlocked the cage with his own talon. He helped Keiji out of it and let him stand in front of him. 

They peered longingly at one another for a moment before Keiji wrapped his arms around Koutarou and hugged him like he was going to lose him at any given moment. 

“Koutarou, you’re okay,” he said against the crook of his shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry, Keiji,” Koutarou told him apologetically as his grin faded from his face. “If it weren’t for me, you would’ve never been in this mess.” 

Keiji looked up at him and put his hand against his cheek. A soft smile spread across his lips. 

“It’s not your fault,” he assured him. “Even if I believe it or not, I’m in this almost as much as you are. I know that now.” 

Koutarou softened his eyes and held Keiji’s hand in his own. 

“You shouldn’t have to be.” 

“I want to be. I’m part of Team Owl, remember?” 

Koutarou gave him a weak smile and brought his hands down in front of them. “I did say that, didn’t I?” 

Keiji nodded as he grinned up at him. 

“And we need to protect each other, Koutarou,” he told him. “You protected me today, and I’m going to protect you by taking you home and making you get off of that ankle.” 

Koutarou laughed and leaned against him for support. 

“I love you.” His eyes widened as soon as the words escaped his mouth. He quickly looked back at Keiji, who just stared at him in shock. 

“Forget what I just said!” 

Keiji peered back at him. His ears were turning pink, and a blush spread across the bridge of his nose. He glanced down with his eyes and bit his lip. He wanted to tell Koutarou that he loved him, too, and now seemed like a good a time as any. 

Sucking it up, Keiji looked straight up into Koutarou’s eyes and said, “I love you, too.” 

Koutarou’s eyes bugged. “What?” His voice came out high pitched, and Keiji couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“I love you, too, Koutarou.” 

“Really?” Koutarou grinned at him. His smile lit up his face, and he pulled off his mask to get a better look of Keiji’s red cheeks. 

Keiji nodded shyly and smiled. 

Koutarou squealed as he picked Keiji up into his arms and hugged him tightly. He pressed his lips against Keiji’s burning cheek, squishing them into his face. Keiji scrunched up his nose but laughed against Koutarou’s overly excited behavior. 

“I’m so ha— _Ow!_ Ow. My ankle.” Koutarou placed Keiji down and rubbed his sprained ankle. 

Keiji steadied him and asked, “We should get you home.” His eyes drifted towards the exit, and he was suddenly and painfully aware that Dark Swan was still by the door, unconsciously leaning up against the wall. “Um, Koutarou?” 

“Y-yeah?” Koutarou asked through the pain that his ankle was causing him. 

“What about Dark Swan?” 

He blinked and glanced over at him. “Oh, he won’t remember anything,” Koutarou promised him. “That second elixir wiped his memory of anything associated with the mutation. According to that file that I found, the people that illegally signed up for those experiments didn’t want to remember having the powers afterward they’d gotten rid of them, so they created that to wipe the slate clean.” 

“So, what _will_ he remember?” 

“Probably up until before his dad got arrested. Everything will come to a big shock to him, but he probably won’t remember us or that his dad’s assistant got his dad thrown in jail.” 

“What do we do with him?” 

Koutarou smiled. 


	6. VI.

Keiji stood inside of the alleyway. He snapped a photograph of Tendou Satori. He was sitting in front of an apartment building, talking to his foster mother as they discussed his volleyball tournament coming up next week. 

A smile crept up onto Keiji’s face. The villain formally known as Dark Swan had vanished out of sight. The newspaper story that Ittetsu had brewed with Keiji’s assistance declared that the villain had been indefinitely incarcerated for his heinous crimes and break-in and tampering of substances at Tencorp. 

Satori had been through a lengthy recovery process after Koutarou had wiped his memory of the entire ordeal that had caused him to lose himself and part of his mind for those dreadful couple of months. 

They had waited for him to wake up to introduce themselves as fellow passerby that had heard him shouting from inside of the building. 

Koutarou had told him that Dark Swan had attacked him and tried to use him as a decoy, which was why he was wearing a suit similar to his. 

“But Owl-Man beat him,” Koutarou had declared with a maskless and beakless face. 

Keiji smirked at the memory and watched Satori walk with his mother towards Tencorp. The company that his father used to own and run was now solemnly run by a group of scientists that were in no way associated with anything that Satori’s father had tried to accomplish. 

It was a fresh start for the former villain. He was being taken care of by his foster family, he was being supported by his funds from his father’s former business, and Koutarou had made sure to pay Mr. Tendou’s former assistant a visit. For a small price of a special elixir that Koutarou had snuck into the facility and found, she would never speak of Satori’s attempt to harm her again. 

The whole battle against Dark Swan was in the past, and Keiji had come around to feeling more secure about Koutarou’s abilities and his need to protect the people of their city. 

As he pulled his camera’s strap around his neck and let the camera dangle over his chest, Keiji’s eyes widened in surprise when a familiar owl-themed superhero hung upside down from the fire escape above them. His talons dug into the metal and supported his weight as he came face to face with him. 

“Hello there,” Koutarou greeted him with a grin beneath his beak. 

Keiji smirked at him. “Hi.” 

“Spying on Tendou again?” he asked the young photographer. 

“Just curious. He seems to be doing well,” he said. 

“Well, anyway, I just saw you and wanted to say hey.” 

Keiji cocked a brow at him and watched him pull his beak upward so that the lower half of his face was visible to him. 

Koutarou smiled at him with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “And I just wanted to tell you that I love you.” 

_There it is,_ Keiji thought as he smirked again. 

He held Koutarou’s face in his hands and looked down at him tenderly. His eyes softened with adoration, and his lips curled into a smile full of need. 

“I love you, too,” he told him. 

“Prove it.” Koutarou smugly quipped. 

Keiji shook his head and chuckled as he pulled Koutarou’s face closer. Their lips touched, and the gentle gesture sparked an adrenaline rush within Koutarou. Blood was already rushing to his brain, but everything seemed to become fuzzy when Keiji’s lips touched his. 

He smiled against the gentle touch. He picked Keiji up in his arms and unhooked himself from the fire escape as he soared up into the sky, placing another kiss against Keiji’s lips as he held him closely in his arms. 

Keiji became weak to his boyfriend’s sweet kiss, and he wrapped his arms around his neck. “You”—he pecked his lips swiftly—“promise”—he placed another kiss against his lips—“not”—he lingered with another kiss—“to”—he pulled away only to return for another touch—“drop”—he finally removed his lips from Koutarou’s and looked up at him—“me?” 

Koutarou nuzzled his nose against Keiji’s and grinned at him as sweetly as he could. He held him closely to him and shook his head. 

“I promise.” 

“What else do you promise?” Keiji teased. 

“I promise to protect you.” 

Keiji looked at him, waiting for him to add more. 

“I promise to cherish you.” 

“What else?” 

“I promise to support you.” 

“Do you promise to love me?” 

Koutarou’s smile broadened, and he rested his forehead against Keiji’s. Keiji smiled back at him as they stared into each other’s eyes. 

Sunshine and gold had never been so comforting to Keiji as he peered into those delicate yet intricate eyes. He leaned into Koutarou’s chest and listened to his heartbeat and the flap of his large wings swishing through the open air like a beating drum. 

“I promise to love you.” 

“I promise, too,” Keiji swore. “I promise forever.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was listening to a lot of different songs while writing this, but I started to realize that I used the notion of promises frequently in this while I was listening to [this](https://www.song365.name/track/reba-mcentire-promise-me-love-3474367.html) song. So, that's where the title comes from. Small fact, I guess, lmao.


End file.
